Stark Raving Mad: A Tony Stark Romance
by UnknownJedi
Summary: During the week of an important work convention, Dr. Autumn Stone is spending the week at Tony Stark's estate. Instantly, the two find themselves attracted to each other, something Stark cannot fully explain. Their love is tested as Los Angeles becomes a playground for multiple terrorist attacks that makes Tony believe Autumn is in danger. Post Avengers, Pre IM3.
1. Chapter 1

I got into the black Dodge Challenger rental after placing my luggage into the trunk and proceeded to leave the LAX airport. Double-checking the address and directions, I headed straight for Malibu. The atmosphere of California was definitely different than back home. Everything looked and felt clear from the ocean to the sky. Blasting the stereo system with one of my favorite Van Halen albums, I made my way to 10880 Malibu Pointe, noticing the grand, off-white modern mansion that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. The gates at the front of the mansion opened automatically as I drove my car towards the front of the house, parking behind a silver Audi R8 that was there before me.

Virginia Potts was standing at the entrance to the house, a smile on her slender face as I approached. She was wearing a wine red ruffled blouse underneath a cream colored suit jacket and dress pants. Her red hair was tied back in a low ponytail. I stopped the car and got out, grinning widely. "Gin!" I called out her nickname from when we roomed together back in Phoenix. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's you!" We embraced each other, a reminder of how long it had been since we last saw each other.

"It has been too long, Autumn." she replied, pulling away, taking a look at me. "My God, you look amazing! You've slimmed down since I last saw you."

"Well you know, it took some time to properly fill in the curves I got." I smiled. "You look like you're doing well too." I quickly put my focus on her, seeing how she became the woman that she is now. No longer was she struggling to maintain a steady, secretarial job like she had in the past. Today, she was CEO of Stark Industries, a position that I thought duly suited her perfectly. "So, Miss CEO, what is it like being the head boss for once?"

"Don't even get me started. It is complicated and stressful. I don't even know how Tony is able to run it himself when . . ."

"When all he does is nothing?" I finished for her laughing. "From what you told me about him Gin, I can't even comprehend how he can pull off such things. I can't even do that."

She raised her eyebrow at me, grinning. "Really? I find it surprising that this is coming from the only person that I know who knows very well how to procrastinate and still make it into pharmacy school."

"This isn't the same thing. I'm not running a company, I run a team. He makes, well he did make weapons. I manufacture and run clinical trials on drugs. That's completely different." I remarked right back. Potts just shook her head, knowing too well that I would counter her argument. I unlocked the trunk with a click of my car keys. "Listen, I do have to thank you for letting me stay here while this convention goes on this week. I was afraid that I would waste money on a hotel, and you know me. If I don't have to waste it, I won't."

"It's not a problem, you know that I will help you out however I can." she said as she helped with my luggage and led me into the mansion. "Besides, we can finally spend some time with each other, given that I don't have too many important meetings to schedule first."

"How embarrassing would that be to even have to schedule an appointment to go to the salon with my best friend?" She laughed again. I took a quick notice of the layout and was impressed. The house had ceilings that were 10 feet high, stone flooring and a beautiful open layout of the kitchen and the living area. The ocean could be see through the large panes of glass that lined the west side of the house.

"There's no need for that. As for you staying here, you have to thank Tony for letting you stay. He was the one to come up with the idea."

I raised my eyebrow. "Really? Tony Stark came up with this idea? Gin, believe it or not your boss is one eccentric man, despite being a genius. Whatever happened to staying at your place?"

"I got overruled and that hardly ever happens. Why he was so bent on having you stay is beyond me."

"We haven't even met and he already wants me staying at his place." I contemplated. "Is that normal of him?" I asked curiously.

She shook her head. "Not that I know-" a sound like the bang of an explosion rumbled from downstairs, shocking the both of us as we cried out in surprise. Gin and I rushed downstairs into a plume of gray smoke.

I heard the cough of a man through the smoke, followed by, "JARVIS, remind me to overlook the circuit mainframe again for the repulsor jets. Also reduce flux circulation from the reactor by fifteen percent."

**AS YOU WISH, SIR. ALTHOUGH I SUGGEST ALLOWING ME TO FINISH MY DIAGNOSTIC SCREENINGS BEFORE YOU INITIATE ANY TEST RUNS.**

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Tony!" Gin exclaimed, "What happened?"

Tony Stark waved his arms around in the air, trying to clear away the smoke. "Oh, hey Pepper. Just, uh, running some test runs for the new suit. Looks like I made a rare, accidental miscalculation. I'll have to look everything over again."

I looked at my friend curiously. "Pepper?"

"It's a long story but that's what he calls me." she replied with a shrug.

"It is because of her witty, fiesty personality." Tony chimed in with a grin. "She is just like a habanero, but with less of a kick and more of a bite." As the smoke cleared, I got a good look at the owner of Stark Industries and the famous Iron Man. Dressed in a dark blue AC/DC t-shirt, his arc reactor shining bright through the cloth, and what looked like a comfortable pair of Levi's, this didn't look like the Tony Stark I familiarized myself with from media exposure. I could feel him staring at me as I stared at him. A chill ran down my spine ever so slightly.

Pepper (I still didn't understand that nickname, though I had to admit, better than Gin...sort of) was the one to break the momentary silence. "Mr. Stark, this is Dr. Autumn Stone, my friend that I told you about a week ago."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Stark." I extended my hand towards him and he graciously took it and shook gingerly. I got a sudden rush of excitement run through my hand and up my arm as our hands touched.

"Pleasure's all mine, and please call me Tony." He flashed a smile exposing his beautiful teeth. His eyes looked sharp and striking as they met mine, causing a sudden array of butterflies taking flight in my stomach. I couldn't pry my eyes away from him, as if he had somehow turned me to stone. I blushed ever so slightly as he released my hand.

"Gin... I mean Pepper... said that it was your idea that I stay here at your estate while I attend the convention in L.A." I said finally.

"The Industrial Pharmaceutical and Biochemistry Convention?" he asked, sounding sincerely curious.

"That would be the one." I answered with a grin. "So basically, I would like to thank you for opening your home to me for the week."

"Any good friend of Pepper's is a friend to me." he smiled widely. "Unless you would like to be of something more, that is. Even if for a night." Tony's voice lowered seductively, followed by an intriguing look from his chocolate brown eyes. I tried to fight back the blush that was beginning to creep up my cheeks, but I had already felt the warmth rise even higher. _Aw shit, don't you even start Autumn. Once you say something back it will just continue on all night until your entire face turns red. _I thought to myself.

"Alright, Tony I am going to head home for the night after I show Autumn to her room. If you need me, just call." Pepper said quickly, pulling me away from Tony as we began to head back upstairs. I glanced back at Tony again as I climbed the stairs, who was watching me with a smile, signaling that he had noticed my blushing. Color crept further up my cheeks as I looked away. I was in for it big time.

* * *

"He was so not! Gin, the guy's a playboy. He has probably done this to hundreds of women." I exclaimed. "Why would he even hit on me like that?"

Pepper was helping me unpack my luggage, arranging my wardrobe in the closet of the massive bedroom that I was sleeping in. I was sitting on my bed, a large circular bed with a soft mattress and heavenly sheets and covers, all in blue, my favorite color. "Autumn, listen to me. I have known the man for nearly 10 years. Yes, hes a playboy, and has the charms to go with it, but believe me when I'm telling you that the way he held eye contact with you is not normal of him. As eccentric as he may be, Tony was definitely checking you out." Then she grinned. "And I can see why Autumn. You really have changed; you've actually gotten prettier and Tony notices it."

"So he was flirting! Big deal!" I spread my hand wide, emphasizing my point. "Besides, I'm sure it will pass. I mean, come on, he sees a lot of women and probably gets all googly eyed over them too. It's not like I liked it." I said in my defense, but I immediately regretted saying it.

My friend immediately stopped what she was doing and looked at me hard, her blue eyes narrowing. Uh-oh, I knew that look. "Nay," she said slowly, using the shortened version of my middle name Naomi. "Seeing how you reacted to the introduction of my boss and his suggestive comment, it will not pass. I will tell you this: he will continue and you will keep fueling his fire." So she noticed it too. Shit . . . she was not going to let me live this down.

"What the hell does that mean?" I asked.

"Oh come on Nay, don't be oblivious. You're the perfect example of a natural flirt. You'll flirt without even meaning or trying to."

"And this is relevant because . . . ?"

"Face it Autumn, you will flirt back. Eventually. Today you were caught off guard, and I can see why. He noticed it, hell he even noticed your blush! He'll be sparking that match until you finally give in and ignite it. And before you know it . . ."

I grabbed one of the white pillows and tossed it at her head, my aim true. The sound of a soft _thump! _was heard as the little pillow smacked into her face. Pepper's expression was full of faux hostility. "My arm twitched," I said to her innocently. And before I knew it, a pillow war was engaged.

* * *

He almost had it, and this time, Tony was 200% certain he had the calculation correct. Shifting his shoulders, Tony carefully re-wired the miniature circuits that were to bring energy from the arc reactor into the Iron Man boots to power the jet packs in the soles. Wiping the sweat from his brow, checking his watch (it was 9:15pm), he put down his tools and close the boot to its non-exposed form and placed it next to various pieces of the new Iron Man suit he was working on. How many has he made now? Ten? Fifteen? He couldn't remember; hell, he can't even remember the name of the last broad he slept with. Or even any non-important (or as Tony thought) details regarding his company or even his own Social Security without Pepper.

Pepper . . . the lady was sure interesting, and a phenomenal CEO for Stark Industries. Tony really admired her dedication and her attentiveness, even to back when she was just his personal assistant. He took an extreme liking to the woman, even tried to get her to go out on a date. After all, what could one date with his good looking P.A. hurt? Unfortunately, however, Pepper had a strict rule about dating her employers and, has to this day, stuck with it. He would be lying to himself if he said that his ego, as large as it was, wasn't hurt by the multiple times he had been rejected by her. Even still, she didn't seem to mind the flirty quirks he shot at her from time to time.

Speaking of quirks, that nice young woman that was here with Pepper sure caught his eye. She was very petite in size and height, compared to his tall CEO, and yet it was something that he oddly found attractive about her. Her slightly wavy, dark brown hair had cascaded like a flowing waterfall, framing her face. But it was her eyes that Tony found quite alluring: wide, deep brown eyes protected by thin-rimmed glasses. Tony had taken note how she seemed to compose herself, unlike all the other women he has had the pleasure or displeasure of meeting. What was her name again? Pepper mentioned it a few times. _I'll find out again soon. _he thought to himself. It was a beautiful name, that he remembered, but how could he have forgotten the very thing she was called? _Scratch that, _he thought again. _I know why. _

The moment Tony had laid eyes on this woman, he felt a rush through his body that he couldn't explain. Shaking her soft, delicate hand, he felt a tingle race up his arm. Not to mention, he experienced a sense of accomplishment after seeing this fair lady blush. Quite shockingly, even to himself, he wasn't sure if the comment he made towards her was intentional, as it usually was to effectively entice a woman just to get to bed. He didn't want to be like that to Pepper's friend. He had more respect for his assistant and would have as much so for her best friend. But this, what he said to her, it just . . . came out.

"JARVIS, let's go ahead and call it a night okay?" Tony called out. The thrum of AC/DC blaring through the speakers faded and the lights the garage dimmed.

**ANYTHING ELSE YOU WISH ME TO DO FOR YOU SIR?**

"I'll keep you posted." Tony replied as he climbed the stairs back to the main floor. Reaching the top step, he saw that woman standing at the scenic windows overlooking the ocean. Before, she was dressed in a dark purple blouse that hugged her breasts delicately with black slacks that accentuated her curvy thighs. Now, she was dressed in a gray tank top and navy blue booty shorts. In her hand she held a glass of water. Tony quietly walked in her direction, nearly startling her as he crept up behind her.

"Oh God, Mr. Stark! I didn't see you there!" she turned to him, a look of surprise on her face.

"It's alright. I'm a little light on my feet sometimes." he smiled. "What are you doing up?"

"Looking out at the ocean. Though daytime is best to see it, I like it just as much as the nighttime." Taking a sip of her water, she looked back at the vast horizon, the ocean dark from the night sky, save for the full moon. "It's very calming, peaceful."

"So it is," Tony agreed. "Excuse me for being so dense, but what is your name again?"

"Autumn. Autumn Stone."

"Autumn . . . what a beautiful name. Kind of like the season, but without the chill in the wind. And too many leaves." he said.

He heard Autumn giggle very quietly, "Mr. Stark, you sure know quite your way around relating names."

"It's a gift. And didn't I ask you to call me Tony?" he looked at her intently. Autumn looked right back at him.

"You did, but it is a habit of mine."

"That sounds like a habit I need to break."

"Hard to break old Southern upbringings when you use them most of your lifetime." she laughed. Already Tony was beginning to love hearing her laugh. "But if you must insist, I'll call you Tony."

Tony grinned. "That sounds more like it." She smiled up at him, and then proceeded to look out at the ocean. Tony didn't realize how small and petite she was until he was standing right next to her. She was no taller than the bottom of his chin, yet he didn't ignore the way she seemed to carry herself. Just being in her presence alone was intriguing and he wanted to know more about her. "You don't see the ocean a lot do you Autumn?"

She shook her head. "No, living in Phoenix deprives one of this luxury. I've only been to California a few times before, some vacation, others for work. No matter the reason I'm here, I always find a reason to see the ocean. You must take this for granted."

"I must agree with you on that one. I don't always appreciate the beauty of anything in front of me, until now." He glanced at her again, taking in her attractive appearance. _I have to admit, I would love to know what she is like in bed. Goddammit Stark! _He mentally kicked himself. _This is Pepper's friend, stop thinking about her like that! _But he knew he couldn't; there was just something different about her.

Autumn looked at him curiously, fingers tapping her glass. "Why is that Tony?"

He thought for a moment, thinking intently. Why didn't he? "Hard to appreciate what you have if you always got what you wanted. Even to this day I still get what I want. But something about right now makes me want to really look at what I have and appreciate it for what it is."

"It's good that you see that Tony. Personally I see it as a way of looking at how you build your life and how you got it there. After all, not everyone, not even myself, can get what they want like you do." Autumn faced him, unaware that she was getting closer to him. Not that Tony minded, but there was something about her being closer to him that made him feel . . . electrified. She was so close he wanted to touch her hand again, feel how soft her skin was.

"I can arrange it to where you can get what you want." His voice suddenly got lower, almost in a growl. Tony saw the blush creeping up on Autumn's face again, and was mesmerized by how she shied her eyes away from him, but not before he noticed the reflective glint in her eyes. He tentatively touched her arm, his hand sliding up towards her shoulder and back down again. Hell, her skin was even softer than before. She placed a hand over his, holding his hand right over her forearm. His stomach felt like it had wings and was flying all over inside his abdomen. His heart began to beat just a little faster, matching the hum of his arc reactor for a few split seconds.

"Tony, I think it would be best if I just go get some sleep right now. Got the convention and all. And before you say anything, I'm sleeping in my bed okay?" Autumn said finally.

"Who said that I was going to say anything like that?" Tony questioned, sounding playfully hurt. _Did she just-? Where the hell did that come from?_

Autumn grinned, flashing her straight, white teeth. "You're sparking up the fire Tony. Just because you haven't said it doesn't mean that you thought of it for a second."

"I'm not sparking up anything and I was not thinking of anything like that. And who knows? I could have said the couch instead of my bed." _That's better Stark, play it cool . . . no wait! Shit!_ He didn't know why he was fueling her on like this. Normally he didn't do stuff like this to impress women, but yet she made it come out of him so easily. This was definitely new for Tony Stark.

"The couch is a perfect, yet still inferior alternative nonetheless." She walked off, her smile still big and bright. Boy, she was a tease. Well two could play that game right?

"We'll discuss which set is superior and inferior tomorrow then?" He asked in a playful tone. She just laughed and told him 'Goodnight Tony' and then walked down the hall into the guest bedroom that she was occupying for the week. Tony couldn't help but smile. She sure was easy to tease but definitely playing a little hard to get. But did he catch her flirting back at him? He certainly hoped so, otherwise his efforts for today and the rest of the week would sure be a challenge.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was just rising over the horizon when I heard the mechanical voice of JARVIS proclaim, **MISS STONE, IT IS 8 AM AND AS YOU REQUESTED I AM TO LET YOU KNOW IT IS TIME TO GET READY FOR YOUR DAY. **

"Thank you JARVIS," I said to the open air. Gin/Pepper was nice enough to introduce me to Tony's A.I. and had him programmed to recognize me and follow basic commands. I had to admit that JARVIS was impressive and wondered how Tony made him come to life. _Tony..._ I thought to myself. That man sure could invade personal space, especially dreams. Anytime I closed my eyes, he was there next to me, like how he was last night. There were times we kissed and held each other. There were others where we made out endlessly. Just by one comment, one look, one touch from this man sent my mind reeling, even in the dream state.

Climbing out of my bed, I walked into the guest bathroom. Actually, I couldn't call it a bathroom, it was more like a bath suite! The walls were a warm vanilla color, raising as high as 13 feet. A large single vanity was on the right side of the bathroom, with a giant slab of a beautiful brown, tan, and off-white marble as the counter top. The mirror stretched from one end of the vanity to the other, pristine as ever, with one corner advertising the current time, weather conditions, and miniature boxes of current events. One the other side of the bathroom was a large, glass encased walk-in shower with what looked like a rainfall shower head that was installed in the ceiling.

What really caught my eye was the round jacuzzi tub right next to the shower. It was elevated, having four steps leading up to the crown of the tub. I walked closer to it and noticed a glass, rectangular device at the edge of the tub. Briefly touching it, I saw holographic images appear. It was obviously a remote control for the tub. Pretty neat, I had to admit. Glancing at the ceiling, I finally noticed the large skylight that brought in the sunlight into the bathroom.

Grabbing a towel from one of the racks, I undressed and stepped into the shower.

* * *

"JARVIS, is Tony up?" I asked.

**INDEED. HE IS DOWN IN THE GARAGE.**

"Well, tell him breakfast is ready and I would be pleased if he ate something at least." I said, a smile crawling on my face.

**I WILL SEND MR. STARK YOUR WAY, MISS STONE. **

I placed the ear bud back in my ear and turned up the volume on my iPod as I resumed playing Def Leppard's "Undefeated". My head was nodding to the beat while also being focused on making sure the biscuits were perfectly baked and the eggs were still fluffy. I sang along to the chorus as I set up the breakfast bar on the island in the middle of the kitchen. I was just pulling out a jug of sweet iced tea out of the fridge when I saw Tony come up the stairs. He was wearing a white muscle shirt and black jeans. His arc reactor shone brightly through the cloth, accentuating his entire physique. His dark brown hair looked messy, as if he just woke up and went to work in the garage, something that I found strikingly sexy. While looking at him, I also took notice of his strong, well defined biceps and triceps. My breath hitched slightly. How I wished I could be held in those benevolent arms, keeping me close.

"What is that smell?" he asked.

I turned off my iPod and took out my ear buds. "Breakfast,"

"Sure smells a little funky, but in a good way." he said with a raised eyebrow.

"That's because it's homemade." I replied while placing the jug of tea on the counter then walked over to the double conventional oven. "Ever had biscuits and gravy?" I inquired.

He shrugged, looking kind of uncomfortable. "Yeah, but they are too . . . thin for me. Also very tasteless, which is the opposite of me." I gestured for him to take a seat, which he did.

"Well, Tony, that's because no one out here on the West Coast knows how to make a proper Southern breakfast. Biscuits and gravy included." I said as a matter of factly. "This is a recipe my great-grandmother used back I went to see her in Tennessee. I may be biased, but it's the best I've ever had." I had already pre-arranged the dishes so that we could pick and choose what we wanted but I wanted to do the honors of serving the great Tony Stark. I grabbed a plate and filled it with 2 biscuits, generously covered in the homemade country-style, sausage-less gravy, a few strips of bacon, scrambled eggs and a side of fresh fruit and placed it before him. I filled my plate, got a glass of sweet tea and sat down next to him and saw him take his first bite. One moment he was chewing then the next, it was like his eyes had glazed over.

"I think I'm having a culinary revelation." he said finally.

I laughed, taking a quick bite of my breakfast. "A culinary revelation?"

"When compared to all the other shit I have eaten in my life, yes. I hate to admit it, but you cook better than Pepper." Tony took up another two bites of the simple breakfast. I laughed again. "Why are you laughing at me?"

I took a sip of my tea. "Because," I teased, a blush creeping up my cheeks again.

Tony Stark stared long and hard at me, his face almost serious. "Because of what? That I actually can taste a ridiculously fantastic meal and have such a dramatic reaction?"

"Actually yes," I laughed again, amused by his response. "Most people would just say 'This is pretty good,' while you, on the other hand, give it an Food Oscar Award for 'Best Damned Breakfast I Ever Had'."

"I think you are making fun of me."

I glanced at him and held my gaze. My God, that man had such intriguing eyes. My stomach began to feel as if the butterflies had taken flight again. My heart began to beat faster. "You don't make it difficult Tony. It's not really that hard when you put yourself up to some teasing."

"Let me get this straight," Tony sat up and faced me. "I come up here and eat a bountiful of food placed before me that actually has my culinary taste buds doing backflips and here you are, sitting there teasing me about how I said your food lead me to a culinary revelation. You haven't even been here . . .what, a complete 24 hours and you already call dibs on teasing me?"

"If you hadn't teased me first, I wouldn't have to call dibs on anything." I faced him as well. "You started it after all."

"I don't know what you're talking about." he said briskly, his face so serious and calm. But it wasn't until I saw him wink at me that I realized that he was now teasing me. _God, that is so unfair of him! _I said to myself.

I went back to my breakfast, savoring the flavors. In my mind, I went back to when I visited my great-grandmother in Tennessee. Everything about her was remarkable, even when she found out she was diagnosed with cancer. I'll never forget the mornings she would wake up my sister and I to have such a breakfast like this. Or when she would let us ride with her into town grocery shopping. One thing that I would always cherish about her was the love she had for my sister and I. I felt my eyes tear up just a little bit. God did I miss her . . .

"Autumn?" I heard Tony ask. I looked at him again. "Are you okay?" He reached out and touched my shoulder.

I smiled, "I'm fine," The look he gave me showed that he didn't believe me, but he also looked concerned. _Did he notice the look in my eyes? _I really hoped he hadn't. "Well, I have to get ready. The convention starts in almost 2 hours and I need to prepare my speech." I got up from the breakfast bar and began to walk towards my room. "I don't expect you to finish all of that but I'm glad that you enjoyed your breakfast." I said to Tony, motioning towards his half-eaten meal.

He smiled his sexy smile . . . I couldn't get enough of it. "It was definitely a pleasant surprise, but not as pleasant as seeing your beautiful face this morning." His eyes looked like they had glazed over again, but not with the lust like I thought, but adoration instead. _He called me beautiful . . . _I said to myself, my cheeks were turning red again, beaming once again. Before I could embarrass myself even further, I went to my room and quickly changed.

* * *

For the first time in 20 years, Tony actually did the dishes. He hated doing any form of housework, especially since he had a cleaning lady come in every other day to do his chores. So what was so different about this morning? Was it because his beautiful house guest went through all this trouble to make a wonderful meal just for him? He knew that was definitely the reason. The woman had already impressed him without even trying, and he did have to admit that the food she made was very delicious, and filling he must add. _I'm gonna have to work that off. No need for a tummy. _Tony had just put away the large jug of iced tea she made back into the fridge when he heard her down the hall.

"Hey Tony," he heard her say. Once he turned his head, he took a sharp intake of air, his heart beating faster again. Autumn's brown hair was swept to one side, held by a large, rhinestone-studded barrette. Her face looked devoid of make up but as he looked harder, he saw the faint coloring of eyeshadow and her eyes rimmed with black eyeliner. Her full lips were glistening with a pale lip gloss. Gazing over her stunning body, he took in how her lilac colored business suit shaped her womanly curves and enhanced her facial features. Wearing one inch heels, Autumn looked professional and ready to strut her stuff at the convention. Instantly he felt a hard-on coming on as he pictured her strutting her stuff in his bedroom, peeling off each article of clothing piece by piece. Shit, now he wasn't going to get that image out of his head . . .

"Tony, I . . .uh . . . wanted to give you my number. In case you need me for anything."

"You trust me with your number? Who's to say that I won't prank call you or sell it to some desperate person who wants my number and calls you instead?" he asked, his voice dripping with faux malicious intent. "I could have that arranged. How much do you think your number is worth if I were to sell it on eBay?"

"If anything like that were to happen Tony Stark, you would be in a fight for your life so terrifying and destructible that not even your Iron Man suit can save you." Autumn said sweetly, her voice sounding so innocent, despite the threat she put on him.

"Guess you will be target enemy number one." he said back without missing a beat. "I can make modifications to the suit so detailed and so precise that it will initiate all offensive strategic positions just by detecting your voice and scent. You'd have no place to run and hide."

Autumn giggled, making the corners of her eyes crinkle with joy. "I'll take my chances. Anyway, here is my number." She held out a slip of paper with her cell number hand printed on it. Tony automatically hesitated, flinching as he did. God he detested being handed things. Paperwork, files, deliveries, and _especially_ women's phone numbers. He couldn't explain why he hated such a mundane task by people he didn't trust. A peeve that he couldn't articulate completely. He just . . . hated it. Autumn quickly noticed his hesitation. "Tony?"

"I . . . uh . . . I don't like it when people hand me things." he said cautiously. He didn't want to be rude to her. "It's . . . uh, a peeve that I do not want to break." He answered quickly.

"Oh," Autumn's eyes looked downcast, but that changed when she responded with, "Well, I could just say it aloud and JARVIS could store it in his internal memory. He can do that right?"

"JARVIS?" Tony called out.

**READY TO STORE MISS STONE'S PRIVATE LINE TO YOUR CONTACT LIST, SIR.**

Autumn listed a string of numbers then quickly checked her watch. "Shit! I'm gonna be late!" She turned towards the door and grabbed her purse.

"Autumn!" Tony called after her. She glanced back at him, anxious to leave. "Thank you . . . for breakfast. It was very good." he said finally. "And I usually don't thank people."

Her lips parted in a smile, replying with "You're welcome," before heading out the door. Tony knew she would be alright but he wasn't sure if he would be mentally. Each time she looked at him, his mind narrowed and only focused on her. He had an unusual desire to touch her again but he wasn't sure about how she honestly felt about all this. In all honesty, he couldn't wait to see her when she got back. _I better ask her out. She can't refuse that offer, can she? _He thought to himself. He didn't think she would; the only hard part was not using her being in his home to his advantage. Pepper would be furious, no she would be on the verge of strangling him, if she found out he used her best friend. Then again, Pepper didn't seem to make such a fuss about his comment towards Autumn. Even so, it was still unintentional. _I'll figure this out sooner or later. __But for now, time to work. _Grabbing a glass of scotch, he went back downstairs into the shop and began to tinker.

* * *

_**Los Angeles . . . such a large, impressionable city full of puny, destructible Americans. America has definitely become a front runner in the war against terrorism, but little did they know that some of their own people were the ones that were fighting against them. But the best way to have America fall to her knees is to hit her and her people where it hurts the most. The man glanced at the tall building where the big time pharmaceutical and biochemistry convention was to take place. Some of the United State's most well-known geniuses were going to attend. What better way to cause havoc among the greatest of the great in the medical industry than to just kill them all? Maybe even take a few hostage; just anything to send a warning out to all Americans, including their President, that all they have worked on, all their information that was tediously gathered and recorded, was going to be destroyed. Or worse, used against them. He smiled to himself. Let these people enjoy themselves a little bit today. After all, the fireworks are the best part of a show's ending.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: For preparation of the beginning of this chapter, I had to do some research. Granted, it is vague and not into as much detail as I wanted so that you, the reader, will not be forever bored and instead head straight into the action. There are some websites that I used to help incorporate medical terminology and technological advancements. **DISCLAIMER: While some of the medical advancements are loosely based on real trials, the main ideas behind Autumn's presentation as well as location and name of the convention are completely fictional.****

I shifted for the umpteenth time in my seat. One would think they would make these seats a lot more comfortable. I glanced around at all of the other attendees of the convention, at least in this small meeting. Pharmacists, nurse practitioners, a couple cardiologists, and biochemical engineers were present. The conference room was smaller in comparison to the others in the Los Angeles Public Convention Center. Dr. Rajaal Kryameshii, at the head of the room, continued further with his lecture about the current physiology of Candesartan, a medication commonly used for keeping blood pressure from rising. This was nothing new for me, obviously, but it actually felt pretty good to refresh my mind on such things. I began scribbling absently on my notepad again. While there were previous notes on other medications and their respective pharmacokinetics, the paper was bordered with **_him. _**

There were raw sketches of his face, detailed shadows of his eyes and even the beginning outlines of his physique. Granted, they were not my best doodle sketches, for I have definitely done better. I had to admit, I couldn't keep him off of my mind. If only I had time to really do an elaborate sketch . . . "Dr. Stone?" a voice rang out, shattering my thoughts of Tony. I looked at Dr. Kryameshii blankly. "Are you going to give us your presentation?" he asked, his thick Indian accent resonating across the room. I took a deep breath as I nodded and stood up. I had to focus right now and _not _focus on Tony Stark.

Grabbing a clicker from my pocket, I asked for the lights to be dimmed. "In recent years we have come across many advancements in medical technology. Each one is rightly unique in their capability to repair and restore the body ridden with cancer and disease. Already we have seen an increase in the use of monoclonal antibodies to battle various types of leukemia and lymphoma." Clicking a button, a 3D holographic image of the human body appeared, revealing the network of the cardiovascular system. "Around the United States, Europe, and even Japan, biochemical engineers and technologists have been working furiously with those in the pharmaceutical profession to create a way to repair the entire cardiovascular system without need for open, surgical treatment." _Click. _The image zoomed into the body, viewing the heart. "Nanotechnology has been evolving with the discovery of their ability to heal and repair. Using synthesized nano-biotic enzymes, we can target specific areas of the body that need repair the most. My team at Saguaro Crest Pharmaceuticals in Phoenix, Arizona have been assigned to working with these enzymes to reconstruct cardiac muscle and even the arteries and veins."

I went on to explain the dynamics and mechanisms of these enzymes, the holographic images providing simulations that revealed the stages of mending the arterial wall ranging from arteriomalacia in the vessels to cardiac abnormalities such as heart murmurs. Everyone in attendance was asking me questions from the nano-biotic mechanisms to the validity of the clinical trials.

"Overall, there have been indications that this form of nanotechnology can expand even further. This, will therefore change the course of medical technology around the globe."

"So what is it that you are proposing Dr. Stone?" one of the nurse practitioners asked, her steely gray eyes narrowing on mine.

"What my team and I believe we have uncovered is the ability to not only rehabilitate and protect the cardiovascular system specifically, but to have these nano-biotic enzymes evolve and take on even the most difficult issues that take months and months of treatment." I explained, my voice edged with excitement. "Using this form of nanotechnology, we can reconstruct not just the cardiovascular system, but also the entire peripheral nervous system."

"So what you are saying is that with this project your team is working on, we can ensure a full, stable form of protection of every organ and its subunits from wear and tear?" one elderly gentleman asked.

I smiled wide, "Yes. And with further studies and trials, our nanotechnology would be the first in the world to eliminate chronic medical treatments by thirty-five percent." The lights in the room returned as I saw the looks of fascination and approval on the faces of my professional colleagues. I took a sigh of relief, _That went very well . . . _

But what broke my train of thought was not the handshake I was receiving from Dr. Kryameshii or his polite congratulations, but the sudden, loud **BANG **that erupted in my ears and the sudden shock wave that knocked me off my feet.

* * *

"We are in position," came a thick, Middle Eastern accent in the man's ear.

"Stand by for further orders. It is not yet time." the man said, tapping the earpiece he wore. The convention was definitely abuzz with many brilliant minds. The main floor of the convention looked very similar to those of a child's science fair. With so much information in one place, the man actually had to admit that even he was intrigued by the works of these minds by indulging in their stands featuring their projects.

Even as a child, medicine has always been an interest to him. However, he was never able to fully experience the true workings of this science. As the only prodigy in his family, he vowed to find a way to make it up to them for everything that they had suffered through. Medicine was the key, and could it be easily manipulated and targeted.

But he knew that all good things had to come to an end. He had everything in place to make this entire building fall. It would be a major hit on the American society and their connection to the rest of the world regarding medicine. What had to take place had to be done. America had to know what it was like to lack such knowledge and suffer for their selfishness. Regardless of casualties.

He walked around absently for 20 more minutes, briefly looking at the many groups of medical engineers and pharmacists who all talked endlessly about technical things. Rubbing the multiple beads on his wrist, he glanced around one last time at the convention and walked towards the door. Passing by the security guard, he nodded once to him and briskly opened the doors into the open air. Before him was the city of Los Angeles, and it was a very busy city indeed. There was no doubt in his mind that Los Angeles would never be the same after today. "It is time. Make the building fall."

Within moments, screams were heard over the loud explosions that were coming from inside the massive structure as glass from the windows shattered from the inside out.

* * *

A loud crash behind Tony suddenly startled him. Whipping around, briefly turning off the blow torch, he flipped his welding helmet up, revealing an agitated face. "Dummy! How many times do I have to tell you to stay put?!" The robot lowered his claw-like head, making a mournful sound. Right next to the sad excuse of Tony's many creations was a pile of broken glass, dismantled Iron Man parts and tools. Tony groaned, seeing his toolbox knocked over for what was the twelfth time this week. He stomped over to the robot, picking up his toolbox. "I swear if you keep dumping and breaking my stuff, I'm gonna break you down and use you for spare parts." he growled angrily. Another sad whine came from Dummy, lowering its head even more. The man of iron sighed; he didn't really mean it. Despite the trouble the poor invention had caused, Tony couldn't just get rid of it. He wasn't exactly sentimental, hell no he wasn't. But he was proud of the machine, despite its Dummy-like tendencies. "Butterfingers, get over here and help Dummy." The other robot, similar to Dummy, rolled up, picking up the debris piece by piece.

One hour later, Tony was still hard at work, this time working on one of the many cars he owned. The oil filters needed to be changed and he added some modifications to the newer car models. The music in Tony's workshop was blasting so loud that he almost missed the sudden warning from JARVIS.

**SIR, I HAVE JUST RECEIVED AN URGENT MESSAGE FROM MISS POTTS. SHE SAYS YOU MUST CALL HER IMMEDIATELY.**

"Mute music. JARVIS, put Pepper on the phone." Tony ordered, pulling himself out from underneath his cherry red Lamborghini, wiping his oil-covered hands with a rag and tossing it unceremoniously onto his toolbox. The speakers ceased all sounds of heavy metal rock n roll as he waited for Pepper to answer.

"Tony!" Pepper answered, a hint of urgency was heard in her voice.

"Hey Pep, what's got you all worked up? Did I miss another meeting with the Board of Directors today?" he asked sarcastically.

"Tony, where is Autumn?"

"At the convention, where she should be. I was actually planning to go see what they had on display over there . . ." he rambled.

"Tony the convention is under attack!" Pepper interrupted, slightly agitated. "The building is exploding from the inside out! I tried to get a hold of her but she is not answering."

Automatically, Tony started marching to the end of the garage where his favorite Iron Man suits were lined up in their own cases. "JARVIS, get Mark VIII ready, I need to move fast!"

**YES SIR.**

"Pepper, I want you to try and keep calling her. Keep me updated. I'm going to get her out of there."

"Be careful Tony!"

Right as Tony approached the center of the circular stand placed before his suits, the stand opened up revealing the Mark VIII suit. With the flick of his wrists, the suit opened up and Tony encased himself. "JARVIS, are we ready to go?" he asked urgently.

**EVERYTHING IS ONLINE AND READY FOR YOU SIR. **

Instantly Tony focused all of his thoughts and energy of getting to Autumn. As he took flight and left his mansion, he quickly scanned for information on the convention center in Los Angeles on his HUD inside the helmet. "What is going on at the pharmaceutical convention?"

A few moments passed. **ACCORDING TO NEWS REPORTS, THE LOS ANGELES PUBLIC CONVENTION CENTER HAS RECEIVED MULTIPLE EXPLOSIONS FROM THE INSIDE. GUNFIRE HAS BEEN REPORTED AS WELL. **Jarvis relayed to Tony.

"Call Autumn's number and trace it. I need to know where she is." Tony demanded, twisting his body to the right as he headed towards the general location of the convention center.

**SIR, MISS STONE IS NOT ANSWERING. I HAVE ALREADY BEGUN THE TRACE TO PINPOINT HER LOCATION. **

But Tony was hardly listening. He knew that he would find her and get her out of there safe, but one thing that worried him the most at the moment was why did the convention come under attack? Who were these people that were doing this? Tony was pissed, and he was going to find out, no matter the cost. Within 10 minutes, Tony reached the building which had thick smoke pouring out from the windows and many civilians clustered around the perimeter. Emergency personnel were on scene as well. Flying through one of the windows, Tony tucked and rolled, coming up on one knee, hands raised, repulsors whining. Finding the area empty, Tony walked around, trying to find his way through the thick ash. "Autumn! Autumn!" Tony yelled, hoping to hear her call out to him. On his right, Tony heard the yelling of foreign, aggressive men and the distinct sound of rifles being cocked and ready. Turning quickly, he raised his hands and fired repulsor beams in their direction. Instantly he was met with rapid gunfire.

Tony quickly went from defensive to offensive. He suddenly charged towards the men, not minding the bullets that were pelting his suit. Once he got close, he fired beam after beam in their direction, tossing the men around. The men yelled at each other in thick, foreign accents and for a split second, Tony got sick to his stomach. Images of when he was back in Afghanistan as a hostage flashed before his eyes. He remembered it all; the yelling, the water dunk, the threat of Raza to assemble his Jericho missile, and their reactions to when the Mark I Iron Man suit was made. This was not going to happen to him again and definitely not with Autumn's life on the line. "JARVIS! Where's Autumn?" Tony barked, firing off more beams.

**I HAVE LOCATED HER CELL PHONE SIR. SHE IS TWO FLOORS ABOVE YOU.**

With a strong kick to the diaphragm on the last guy that was standing tall, Tony surveyed the damage, noticing that the smoke was starting to dissipate. He didn't see anyone else on the floor. The walls were blasted out and several columns were blown to pieces. _This place is going to fall, _Tony realized. Heading towards the stairs in the back of the room, he focused on trying to find Autumn and quickly. "Don't worry Autumn," Tony said aloud to himself, "I will get you out of here."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: The language spoken by the terrorists is Slovak. I got the translations from a website I found. Any grammar errors or spelling mistakes can either be blamed by me or the website...depending on how you look at it. -But seriously, blame the website. ;)  
**

****WARNING: This chapter contains images (and few words) that may be disturbing. Read at your own discretion please. (I didn't rate this M for just the sexual scenes to come.)****

My eyesight started to come back. Everything was all fuzzy, grainy, and my eyes stung from the smoke that was still hanging in the air. My entire body was sore and my head hurt like hell. I winced as I placed my hand on the side of my temple, a sharp pain developed accompanied by the steady dripping of blood. There was a loud ringing in my ears that didn't seem to fade, and as I tried to stand, I nearly fell down from lack of unequal balance distribution. _What the hell happened? _I thought to myself. The conference room that I was in was littered with debris, from shards of glass to huge chunks of concrete from the walls. Several of the columns were badly damaged and I knew, deep in my gut, that it was only a matter of time before they collapsed. Around me I heard moans of my colleagues as they, too, were coming back into consciousness. I heard a woman scream in agony. Turning in her direction, I saw the woman, a nurse practitioner, kneeling beside the bloodied body of Dr. Kryameshii. Multiple shards of glass were sticking out form his chest and there was a large, gory gash on the side of his head. I walked over to her, putting my hand gently on her shaking shoulder. "Come on, we have to get out of here." I said to her softly. "We can't waste any more time." She nodded, still sobbing softly. It was then I noticed the dark red speckles of blood that were splattered on her side all the way to her face.

I surveyed the rest of the room, seeing my colleagues slowly getting up. Some of the seemed to be okay, with only a few gashes and possibly some bruises. The others . . . I couldn't look any longer. That wasn't important right now. Instinct kicked in immediately; right now, we had to get to safety. "Everyone! We have to leave this place now! Head for the main floor!" I commanded to the remainder of our group. Quickly, all those that were still alive went straight out into the hallway. I stayed behind, making sure that everyone got out harmlessly. Once the last person was out the door, I took one long, last glance at the carnage left behind. Seeing that the room was clear, I headed back into the hallway, meaning to follow the others. Right as I was reaching a joining hallway, I heard loud, aggressive male voices mixed with the screams of terrified people followed by a barrage of bullets from what sounded like automatic weapons. I stifled a scream, pressing my back to the wall.

"Môže byť viac. Nedovoľte, aby sa z nich prežiť. Skontrolujte zvyšok podlahy!" I heard a gruff voice bark out in a language I didn't understand. Their footsteps were echoing loud in the quiet hallway, and I knew they were headed in my direction. Looking around, I tried to find something that would either help defend me or help me attack. All around me were just broken glass, crumbles of concrete and destroyed furniture. Thinking quickly, I picked up some shards of glass that were laying nearby. Pressing my back to the wall again, I waited. My heart was racing, my hands slightly shaking with adrenaline and fear. However, I kept my mind focused. I had to take these men down. And I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

I had my hand ready, my breathing slow and steady as I anticipated for them to come around the corner. As soon as I saw the rifle barrels peek past the wall, I counted to five and just as I saw their faces, I threw the shards of glass right toward them. The glass penetrated their necks; my aim precise. "Čo sa do riti je toto?!" one of the men yelled angrily before choking on his own blood. Each of the four men threw up a hand to their necks, feeling the glass dig deeper and deeper. These men, kneeling to the ground in pain, were wearing basic body armor, combat boots, and red scarves across their waists.

Not wasting any time, I went up to the closest man and delivered a sharp, hard blow to the nose, feeling the bone shatter and then jabbed his arm. The foreigner gasped in discomfort as he dropped his rifle. The others, despite their inflictions, tried to raise and level their weapons at me. I picked up the dropped M16, 4th generation I noticed, and sprayed bullets at them. They made a sickening gurgling sound as they fell, their eyes glazing over like a sheet of glass. I overlooked the damage I had caused; the bullets tore straight through their body. I saw their blood pooling from their mouths caused by the fragment of glass.

_This is worse than I thought. I need to get out of here. _After grabbing the terrorists' magazines from their rifles and placing them in my pockets as best as I could, I headed for the end of the first hallway that lead to the stairwell. I opened the stairwell door quietly as I could. Right when I was about to descend the stairs, I could hear the sound of more voices coming up. They were all yelling at one another in what sounded like four different languages. At the stairwell balcony, I positioned my rifle downwards and fired. Hopefully that would scare them off. Their shouts increased and an angry voice boomed, "Prejdite tam hore a snímajte pes! Máme na zaistenie oblasti pred sme toto miesto. Ich nájsť! Nájsť ich ešte dnes!" The stairs rattled angrily as the group of men ran up the stairs getting closer. I ran back out the door and into the first pair of double doors that I saw, nearly tripping over the dead body that lay right behind it. The room was larger than the last and at the front was a wide podium. Dashing towards it, carefully avoiding the multiple carcasses across the floor, I hid behind the podium, slumping to the ground. I sighed heavily, my mind racing with questions as I replaced the nearly empty magazine with one of the ones I took eariler.

Who were these people? Why choose this convention as their place of attack? Why this convention exactly? I didn't understand it, and if . . . _When! Not if, when, Autumn. . . _when I get out of here, I will do what I can to find out. But where would I start? Leaning my back against the pedestal, I sighed, observing the weapon in my hands. I wondered to myself how did these men get such U.S. military grade rifles. That is, until I noticed the familiar logo on the butt of the automatic weapon: Stark Industries. _Stark Industries? _I thought in worry. _I though__t Tony completely shut down the weapons division in his company?_

My thoughts were once again interrupted as that same intimidating voice barked out more orders. "Vyhľadávanie každej miestnosti! Nič hodné Amhizan na výskum. Fotografujte čokoľvek, čo sa pohybuje." Getting on my knees, I shouldered my stolen rifle, carefully inching the barrel past the podium, facing directly at the double doors. I saw three men walk in. My breath hitched, for I was afraid that they had seen me. One second . . . two seconds . . . I pulled the trigger and held it, bullets flying through the air. The men ducked and began shooting in my direction. I whipped back behind the podium and shot from the other side. I got two straight in the head, the other in the arm. The two men fell, their gory discharge plastered on the wall behind them, leaving it red and wet. The last guy, gripped his arm, loudly cursing in his language.

I kept firing at him, but he was too well-trained and began rolling out of the way. I heard more men cry out as they headed in the direction of the room that I was hiding in. Looking to my right, I caught a glimpse of the man's rifle pointed at me. Reflexively, I rolled out of the way just as soon as he fired. I cried out in pain as a bullet had clipped my arm. I glanced briefly at it, seeing a large oozing gash chipping my arm. _Fucking bastard!_ I thought. Twisting my body where I came up on one knee, I aimed and discharged multiple rounds simultaneously, shooting my attacker in the chest. Immediately, I faced the doors again, crouching low.

Just as I began to take a clean shot at the door to anyone who barged in, a loud rumbling was heard and a high whine was closely followed. The men outside shouted at one another, rifles firing like crazy. I listened as the high whines continued on and on; audible thuds sounded against the walls until all was quiet. I stayed where I was, crouched to the floor, finger on the trigger. One of the doors was forcefully kicked open and just before I could pull the trigger, I let my grip falter as I stared at the man in the doorway.

* * *

Tony couldn't believe what he was seeing. It wasn't the amount of damage that had been done to the room caused by the explosions. It wasn't the fact that there were multiple dead bodies lying across the room, three of them belonging to the terrorists. In fact, it wasn't anything like the sight before him. Not even ten feet away from him was Autumn. She was crouched on knee, aiming a rifle at him. Autumn, who before looked so perfect and innocent and was now feral-looking, streaked with blood, hair a mess and clothes slightly singed was pointing a rifle, one of his own, right at Tony Stark. "Tony!" she exclaimed, loosening her grip on the trigger and ran towards him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, lifting the faceplate of his helmet, placing a hand on her shoulder, noticing her arm was gashed and bloody. "Autumn, you're hit!" he said frantically.

"I'm fine," she quickly said, placing her hand on the wound, applying pressure.

"We need to get you out of here. This place is going to collapse." Tony urged, taking her hand and pulled her out the door and towards the stairwell. But as soon as they got there, more armed men came through the door. "Stay behind me!" Tony ordered, faceplate closing down and began firing repulsor beams at the enemy force. From behind him, he heard the automatic weapon discharge held by Autumn, who ran to the other side of the hallways, taking cover behind a large mass of debris. His heart dropped instantly in concern. "Fuck! Autumn! I told you to stay behind me!" Tony yelled.

"You're not the only one who can fight here Stark!" she yelled back, firing more and more rounds. _What is she thinking? She can't obviously handle any of this! _he thought to himself. Autumn had somehow kept calm, not once under any amount of psychological trauma like most civilians would. Tony was used to combat situations like these, she wasn't. He saw her brow furrow in concentration as she took aim and fired. Her sudden rigid and cool composure worried him.

Rolling his eyes, Tony focused back on the hostile group in front of him. "JARVIS, lock target screens. Use short range hollow points." Immediately, Tony's HUD pinpointed on each of the remaining terrorists and released the shoulder-mounted hollow point slugs. With a sickening groan, each of the terrorists fell.

Behind him, he heard Autumn sigh heavily, "You definitely know how to make someone jealous with that suit of yours. Makes me wish I had one of my own."

"You know how to make holding a rifle nearly twice your size look . . . well . . . easy." Tony replied carefully, his heart pumping just a little bit faster, seeing how attractive Autumn was even at this moment. Yet he still didn't understand; how was she able to do this?

Leaving her space, Autumn walked up to him, holding the rifle expertly in her hands. "You make being Iron Man look easy." She patted his shoulder, failing to hide the blush on her cheeks. "We have to get moving. There's probably more colleagues trapped inside this building and these terrorists aren't going to stop until everyone is dead." She walked past him but Tony grabbed her arm firmly, pulling her back to him.

"Where do you think you are going?" he asked forcefully.

Autumn glared at him. "I'm not leaving any survivors left to die. We need to get them out of here." She had to be kidding . . .

"I'm not going to let you do that." Tony said, his voice hardening not with anger, but with an emotion he hardly ever felt. Damn. "Fighting off those bastards is my job. Not yours!"

"The hell it is! What's my job Mr. Stark? Be a damsel?"

"Your job is to get to safety and let me handle this. You're already hurt Autumn and I'm not taking a chance! I'm not sticking my neck out any further because if something else happens to you, Pepper will have my head." Tony saw shock register on Autumn's face, rendering her speechless. She kept staring at him with her mouth open. He pulled her closer to him, her chest up against his hard armor. "And that's just the least of my problems." And he meant it.

"It won't be your problem at all. I can take care of myself. I didn't shoot seven men just to leave here without a fight. My job right now is to help you. You can take it or leave it." She pulled away from him, a movement that actually caused ache to his heart. With her gun raised to prepare fire, she headed to the stairs. He couldn't believe her! The one time he actually cares about someone's safety other than his, this woman just blows him off! This isn't how normal women act. Then again, Tony knew that she wasn't any average woman. He grunted, finally settling of the idea that he would just have to put up with her for the time being. There wasn't enough time to argue. Tony followed behind her, eventually coming up in front to lead the way downwards.

After going down several flights, Tony's HUD lit up red as more hostiles were detected on his radar. "We got more of those bastards on this floor." Motioning for Autumn to stay where she was, Tony kicked open the stairwell door and surveyed the surrounding area with his palms raised in case of an attack. "Clear," he announced. As Autumn stood next to him, he heard yelling in the distance off to the left and terrified screams of civilians followed. Turning his head in that direction, he thought of a plan. "Autumn, I'm going to need you to get those people of there. I'll be the distraction."

"Distraction my ass, Tony." she responded sarcastically. "You are going to blast those idiots without any discretion."

"Fair enough, but just lead the people out of there and I want you to leave with them."

"Not a chance, Iron Man." Autumn challenged.

"Are you always this stubborn?"

She shrugged at him. "Only when I'm not being innocent to most people." Damn, the woman was definitely similar to him in that respect, minus the innocent part. He was just as stubborn but he was also an asshole, something that he knew very well. This young woman sure had some fire in her spirit, and for some reason, that made his heart skip three beats. _Get it together Stark! You can focus on this woman after you kick some ass. _Together, he and Autumn headed towards the end of the hall, standing before two large wooden doors where one was cracked open ever so slightly. Nearly thirty or so civilians were held hostage as fifteen men, armed to the teeth, guarded them while shouting violently.

"What's going on in there?" Autumn whispered, pressed up against the wall.

"About thirty civilians are on the ground, fifteen guardsmen surrounding them. Heavily armed too." He looked at her. "I want you to wait ten seconds after I go. Lead them out and quickly."

Autumn nodded, her face still brave. "Be careful, Tony."

Before he could register that thought completely, Tony charged through the door, instantly firing repulsor beams in the direction of the terrorists. The hostiles responded back with multiple round of gunfire, barking out orders.

"Viesť paľbu! Sa stop, kým Iron Man patrí! " one yelled out.

"Kontakt Amhizan! Povedzte mu sme pod útokom! Povedzte mu na -ACK!" another yelled right as soon as a flurry of rounds penetrated his neck and torso. From his peripheral vision, Tony saw Autumn firing rounds at the terrorists, quickly urging the hostages to head out the door. Walking up to one of the gunmen, Tony grabbed his rifle and snapped it over his metal clad thigh. Before the gunman could get a hold of another weapon on his body, Iron Man himself punched him in the jaw and side kicked him so hard that the terrorist landed six feet away. Quickly turning around, Tony had just enough time to move out of the way as another guard was about to leap on him. With his palm raised, Tony delivered a painful energy beam at his attacker.

A female cry snapped Tony's head in Autumn's direction. She was crouched low in pain but still managed to keep firing her rifle. Her shoulder was now bleeding along with her upper arm. The men who shot her got closer but not before she delivered precise head shots to the both of them. "Autumn!"

"I'm fine Tony, just a clip. Watch your six!"

Tony was whacked on the side of his hard. _Son of a bitch! Did he just fucking dent my helmet? _Facing his attacker, who was hold his rifle backwards from the attempt to knock Tony unconscious, he summoned his hollow point magazine and fired at it the terrorist's neck. Immediately, the man fell, gurgling and choking on his own blood, rasping for air. He looked back at Autumn, who was rolling on the ground, dodging fire. For a split second, Tony narrowed his eyes, watching her move. Noticing how fluid she was and how easily she handled the weapon in her hands. Her face was crunched tight in concentration, her hair falling out of place, and sensually so. He had to admit, this was the most sexiest thing he had ever seen.

"Has anyone ever mentioned how appealing you are with a gun in your hands?" Tony inquired.

"None," Autumn responded, not taking her eyes off target. "But then again, I don't go on terrorist massacres with men."

"I think you should, but without the terrorist part."

"Go on a massacre as a date? That's too far fetched."

"Not when you're Tony Stark." Tony fired a few more hollow point rounds, knowing that it would incapacitate the enemy more. "Unless you prefer a nice dinner compared to a shooting range."

"Are you asking me out?"

"Are you going to say yes?"

"We are in the middle of a firefight against the clock and you are asking me out? On a date?!" Tony chuckled to himself, amused by her response to his invitation.

"I'll take that as a yes." He twisted and jumped out of the way as more bullets were shot in his direction.

"You have terrible timing, Tony." she announced, quickly getting up and running from pile of debris to another, managing to take cover.

"Great! After this is over, get all prettied up by 8pm." Tony was sure he saw her roll her eyes at him, complete with a large grin on her face. _Yep, she likes me._

Suddenly from above, Tony heard a low, terrifying rumble and loud cracks from the columns in the room. Everyone stopped and stood as they listened.

"Tony?"

The remaining three men had shocked looks on their faces before turning to run for the door.

"JARVIS?!"

**SIR, THE BUILDING IS BEGINNING TO COLLAPSE. YOU NEED TO GET MISS STONE OUT OF HERE IMMEDIATELY.  
**

"Tony?!" The rumbling got louder and louder. Running as fast as he could, Tony scooped Autumn up in his arms as he commanded, "JARVIS, send all power to the jet packs! Now!"

**ALREADY HAVE, SIR.**

Tony felt his boots fire up as he held Autumn close to him as best as he could. He began to fly out of the room and back into the hallway, seeing the large window openings on the west side. Autumn screamed as she looked behind Tony, watching in horror as the ceiling crumbled to the ground. Using as much power as he could, Tony raced to the blown out windows, nearly becoming crushed by the slabs of concrete that were falling. Within moments, he and Autumn were above Los Angeles, watching as the convention center collapsed to the ground. Tony looked at the young woman he carried in his arm. She looked a little worse for wear, shaken, and scared. Autumn clung to his neck tightly, laying her head on his shoulder. Her chest was heaving as she tried to calm herself down. "Thank you Tony," she said, loud enough for him to hear her over the raging winds.

"It's okay Autumn, I've got you." he said back. "I won't let you get hurt." And he meant it. She just nodded silently, still shaken up about the entire ordeal. They both said nothing as Tony flew back to his home, hoping to recover and get ready for the date he set up tonight.

* * *

_**He was given as much information as he could find. There were lots of paper, notepads, files, and even flash drives that were collected from the abandoned rooms left by the people in attendance of this event. This would hopefully be enough to set his entire plan into action. One of his scouts called his name, waving something in his hand. Walking up to the scout, an object was placed in his palm. A smartphone. Turning it on, he saw notes on the research of nano-biotic enzymes and other forms of nanotechnology. He looked for the name of the person who had written this report. Whoever had constructed this piece surely could provide more useful information in crafting a "better" version of their work. It didn't take long before he found the name of the author: Dr. Stone.**_

* * *

**_Môže byť viac. Nedovoľte, aby sa z nich prežiť. Skontrolujte zvyšok podlahy!-_** There may be more of them. Do not let any of them survive. Check the rest of the floor!

_**Čo sa do riti je toto?!-**_What the fuck is this?!

_**Prejdite tam hore a snímajte pes! Máme na zaistenie oblasti pred sme toto miesto. Ich nájsť! Nájsť ich ešte dnes!-** _Go up there and shoot the dog! We have to secure the area before we blow this place. Find them! Find them now!

_**Vyhľadávanie každej miestnosti! Nič hodné Amhizan na výskum. Fotografujte čokoľvek, čo sa pohybuje.-**_ Search every room! Take anything worthy of Amizhan's research. Shoot anything that moves.

_**Viesť paľbu! Sa stop, kým Iron Man patrí! -**_Keep firing! Do not stop until Iron Man falls!

_**Kontakt Amhizan! Povedzte mu sme pod útokom! Povedzte mu na -ACK**_!- Contact Amhizan! Tell him we are under attack! Tell him to-ACK!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello everyone! Happy October! This is going to be a good month I know it. Why? My birthday is this Saturday (the 5th)! YIPPEE! However, I do want to take this moment and apologize for the long hiatus for this chapter. I have been swamped with school, work, and everyday life dramas. Fret not, I didn't forget about you or the story. I do thank you greatly for your patience. Quickly, before you read on, I would like to ask if you wouldn't mind taking a few moments to write a review on what you have read so far. It would mean so much to me if you do. Anyways, here is Chapter Five. And because I love you all so, FREE VIRTUAL BROWNIES FOR EVERYONE!**

* * *

_"I don't understand why you were even involved."_

_"What happened was spontaneous. I did my job and I was backed up into a corner, sir. I had nowhere else to go."_

_"I should have you out of there immediately. Why didn't you have an escort?"_

_"If I remember correctly sir, I don't work for you anymore. I don't need a goddamn escort. Also, I retired 5 years ago. You guys need to stop checking in on me."_

_"You may be retired, but you are still a part of this team. You hold valuable information and we can't let them take it from you."_

_"Over my dead body."_

_"He's going to find out sooner or later. I know the bastard more than you think you do. You're putting yourself at risk."_

_"No one is going to be at risk. The less anyone knows, the better."_

* * *

"You did what?!" exclaimed a surprised Pepper.

Tony let out an exaggerated sigh. A few hours had passed from the moment he and Autumn made it to his home safely. He made sure to take her to the hospital to make sure that she wasn't severely injured. The doctor had said that she was fine, that the bullets hadn't hit anywhere important and that she was very lucky to not have lost a lot of blood. The wounds were not as bad as he originally thought. She was given painkillers and was sent home. Autumn was upstairs in her room at the moment resting. He was down in the workshop, keeping his mind occupied as he inspected the damage done to the Mark VIII while simultaneously having a phone conversation with Pepper. Tony knew that she would be relieved that he and her best friend made it out okay, despite the injuries they had both received, specifically Autumn. What Tony should have known was that she would overreact to one tiny detail.

"Pepper, do I need to repeat myself?" he asked kindheartedly. "I asked her out. Maybe it wasn't the best time to ask . . ."

"Tony, of course it wasn't the best time to ask. I don't know what you were thinking! What in the hell gave you the ludicrous idea to ask in the first place? Wait . . . don't answer that."

"I'm impulsive, you that know that I don't always think these things through." _At least, not as much as I should. _

"Damn right you don't." Tony heard Pepper take a deep breath, ultimately trying to calm herself down. "Listen Tony, I am thankful that you were able to get her out, regardless of her injuries . . ."

"Hey, I did my best okay?" Tony interrupted. "I tried warning her that she had to leave but she was being ridiculously stubborn." Tony frowned slightly as he unscrewed and detached the helmet from the rest of the suit, inspecting internal and external damage.

"You can be too Mr. Stark. Knowing the two of you, you both can be very difficult at times."

A loud whirring noise echoed throughout the room as Tony began to carefully saw the helmet in clean, precise pieces. "I'm sorry, what was that Miss Potts?"

He could imagine her shaking her head at him in playful annoyance "Tony, I don't mind if you ask her out, but don't you think she can handle such an offer after what she just went through? I have known Autumn for a very long time. She isn't always as strong as she makes herself out to be."

"Must I remind you of how Miss Sniper was able to contain herself in a terrorist shootout?" Stark inquired, bringing the overhead lamp closer to him.

"That's not what I meant," Pepper replied.

"Then what did you mean?"

Once again, he heard her sigh, knowing all too well that his CEO was reaching a conclusion. A conclusion, he had previously noted, to which she could not give him a straightforward answer. "You'll find out on your own." She paused for a moment. "Oh no, I have to get back to work here. Happy is starting to harass the staff again with those badges he just came out with."

Tony chuckled to himself, greatly amused. "You need to stop giving him the short leash Miss Potts."

"Since you've been busy with anything regarding the Avengers, someone around here has to. Goodbye Tony." Pepper said.

"Pepper wait . . . don't hang up yet." Tony pleaded, automatically feeling guilty about how he had gotten Pepper all worked up from his partially selfish actions. Okay, _entirely _selfish actions. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have done that to her. I didn't mean to spring that up at all. As I said, I'm impulsive. The entire situation was stupid and it wasn't fair to Autumn and it wasn't fair to you. I don't want to hurt her Pepper, and I don't want to put you in a situation where you have to worry about her constantly."

"Tony . . ."

"I know things have not been completely consistent since the Avengers have gone public." he remarked. "We have a new attitude about things; and these things are are never going to be the same. Nothing truly has been. You were always worried about me, about losing me . . ." Without realizing it, he dropped his screwdriver, hand slightly shaking. His breath hitched momentarily as he remembered that day. _No, stop it Stark! You can't keep reliving that day. You're okay. _He felt his heart begin to race as the memory picked at his brain. He stared at the Iron Man helmet in front of him, focusing on nothing in particular. Forcing a shaky sigh, Tony calmed himself down and shut his eyes, his breath returning to normal. "Maybe I'll just . . . cancel tonight." he said finally, shaking his head.

"Tony, I'm not mad at you for what you did. Surprised, but not mad. However she is my best friend and I'm supposed to worry about her." Pepper paused for a moment. "Just take it easy on her. Besides, I saw how you both reacted to each other."

Tony perked up his head, panting slightly. "So you noticed,"

"I did," she answered. "It wasn't that difficult either."

"Yeah," he sighed, picking up the screwdriver from the ground and placed it back in the toolbox, replacing it with a hammer. "I didn't think so. Again, I'm sorry Pep." He meant it and Tony Stark hardly apologized for anything. However, his ordeal was something entirely different overall. This wasn't just someone he didn't know or had no connection to, although all was true for the above. _No, I don't know her. So why do I keep getting these . . . reactions to her? _He didn't need to ask himself that. Sure it had been some time since he had gotten laid but he had started to give up that life, sort of. To mess with Autumn in such an immoral way would only cause Pepper to be furious with him. For Tony, on the other hand, this had do with his CEO's best friend. Not to mention, Pepper was one of the very few people that he felt close to. The last thing he wanted to do was jeopardize his friendship with Pepper by endangering Autumn in any way.

"It's okay Tony." she responded back. "I trust you enough to know that you won't intentionally hurt her."

There it was again. He had almost forgotten that he could hurt her. His sudden attraction to Autumn was not something he should have done. Call it lust, call it lechery, call it whatever. It all meant the same thing, and Tony didn't want it to be just that, did he? He shook his head somberly. "Don't worry," Maybe he was getting too ahead of himself this time. "I'll straighten things out with her."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Pepper answered, her voice softening as she spoke. "I have to go now. I'll see the both of you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright, bye Pep." he said, feeling a little bit better. Right after she had hung up, Tony went back to repairing the damage on the dismantled helmet. His brow furrowed as he began to pound that dent back into its place. Slightly frustrated, he thought meticulously on how to reinforce the prone head plates. Tony Stark wasn't completely a man of perfection, but he certainly did not enjoy flaws either.

* * *

**SIR, MISS STONE IS LOOKING FOR YOU. **JARVIS announced.

"Send her down here," Tony answered, too focused on another part of an Iron Man suit he was currently tinkering with. Within moments, he heard Autumn walk down the steps. he didn't want to look at her, not yet anyway. He wasn't sure what he would say to her. As she stepped closer to him, he caught the slight scent of sweet coconut.

"You know, Gin was right when she said that you tinker a lot." she said finally, observing his handiwork.

Tony inclined his head slightly to glance at her before looking back at the piece of machinery. "Gin? You mean Pepper?"

Autumn gave him a small smile. "Yes, I meant Pepper. She often tells me that you don't seem to do much else."

"Compared to what?" he asked curiously.

"Compared to other things you have been known to do. Saving the world, running your company with Gin, partying, getting dates . . ." she trailed off suddenly. Tony could sense her hesitation, as if she didn't mean to insult him intentionally. He wasn't worried however. It wasn't as if he was blind to what he did. Instead of countering her statement, he just shrugged.

"Well, I guess that's true. I can't say much about it." he replied. She was inches away from him now. It took every ounce of self control that he had to not touch her, to not stare at her like he was awestruck. He sure as hell needed to keep his composure and he wasn't going to screw up now. For a few moments she didn't say anything else, but Tony could feel her staring intently at him.

"Turn your head," she said softly.

Tony stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "Why?"

"I don't think you're taking care of yourself." she answered.

"Don't be silly, of course I am. I'm not the one with an injured shoulder. Shouldn't you be resting?"

He saw Autumn gingerly touch her shoulder, as if him mentioning the wound had made her realize that it was still there. She had changed into a lime green tank top and navy blue sweats, more than likely to make herself more comfortable. Her arm and her shoulder was bandaged tightly, the white cloth soiled with a pinkish-red stain from the blood that oozed steadily from the wound. At the hospital, he only caught a glimpse of the damage that was done to her. It wasn't a pretty sight, that he remembered, but even so, she seemed to handle the injury well. Maybe a little too well. "I'm fine, but that large scratch on your head doesn't look like you tended to it at all."

Tony groaned, "It's just a scratch. I'm not dying, y'know."

"Catch an infection bad enough and you just might." she said. With a small smile, she placed her hand on his shoulder. Tony felt himself get warm all of a sudden. "Let me see it." she repeated.

Tony griped again, turning his head to reveal a large laceration that was not too deep however. The blood was minimal, yet still left an unsightly covering that was cracked and dried, raking through his unkempt hair and his bare temple. He felt her place her hands gently on his head, getting a closer look at the injury he elected to ignore for the time being.

"You didn't put anything on this, did you?" she asked.

"No, I didn't have the time." he answered her, wincing slightly as she gingerly touched the laceration. Tony felt her fingers comb through his hair, to look more intently at the wound. Regardless, his stomach had those damned butterflies again and he could feel the blood automatically increase in his groin. _Hell . . . why right now Stark? She's just checking your head. No big deal. _he thought to himself. No matter what, he couldn't ignore the way the movements of her hands stimulated him. Her fingers ran through his hair again and a tingle started from the top of his head and traveled down his spine to his toes. He felt a low guttural sound emit slightly from his throat, half closing his eyes. "Am I going to die, Doc?"

Autumn laughed. "No, you're not going to die. Although, you're going to have to dress this wound somehow. Where's your first aid kit?" Tony motioned to a cabinet a few feet away. Autumn retrieved the box and returned to Tony's side, pulling out a small can. "This will sting a little."

"What are you -AH!" Tony cried out as Autumn sprayed the antiseptic onto the scratch. The sting caused a dull throbbing sensation on the side of his head, something Tony didn't want at the moment.

"Tony, I've been thinking about what you said. You know, back at the convention? I think . . ."

"It was a stupid idea, I know." he interrupted. _Well, here goes nothing. _"I've been thinking this over too and I realize that I shouldn't have done that to you at all. It was arrogant and self of me. You probably don't even want to go considering your condition." Autumn looked at Tony, unsure of what to say or think. Nevertheless, he didn't want to waste anymore time. "Don't worry about tonight. I didn't consider your current state of mind or physical health. Again, I was selfish." Damned that he knew it too. He wasn't thinking straight at the time. He should have been more focused on dealing with the bad guys and getting Autumn to safety. Instead, he got caught up in the moment of watching her, absorbing every movement of her body. Granted, his physical reactions to her were not new to him. Like hell they were; he couldn't ignore the sexual hunger he felt towards her. Yet, they had felt unwarranted and forbidden to him for they were also something entirely different to Tony.

"I wasn't going-" Autumn began to say before being cut off by Tony.

"Autumn, I don't pull stunts like this. Ever. Coaxing a woman on a 'date' while drunk off your ass is different than when you are trying to save the lives of people in danger. Why would you want to go out on a date with me when you just got hurt?" He gestured to the bandages on her arm and shoulder again. "You obviously need rest, not get ready for some date night that I planned without thinking. I'm impulsive and what I did was unfair to you. So again, don't worry about dinner tonight."

"I never said it was a bad idea Tony." she said finally, catching Tony off guard. He was taken aback by her words. He gave her a puzzled look, arching his eyebrow. "Even with the timing being inadequate and all, being at the wrong place at the wrong time, it wasn't selfish. I can see why you thought so, but it's not."

"I figured you wouldn't want to."

"I never said no, Tony." she stated.

"You never said yes either, Autumn." he countered, his voice becoming slightly edgy.

"I'm telling you yes right now." she answered back just as quickly. Tony blinked, her words processing through his skull. _Unbelievable, _he thought. _If she is wanting to go out after __what had just happened to her, she is definitely crazier than I thought. _

"But your arm . . ." he protested.

"I'm a big girl Tony. Some battle scars are not going to kill me. Besides, the doctor said I just needed some rest and I can gauge my pain management better than most people." Autumn then proceeded to hand him two white tablets from a small container. "Ibuprofen," she said when he gave her a questioning look. "It will help with the pain."

"No Vicodin?" Tony asked teasingly as he shook the pills around in his palm.

Autumn rolled her eyes at him, a small smile appearing at the curve of her lips. Tony bite his tongue, cursing to himself as his mind began to think about what it would be like to kiss those lips. "You're not in that much pain Mr. Stark." she said, interrupting his thoughts. "I cannot administer controlled substances to you by law without a proper and legitimate prescription. I am not risking eight years of dedicated, hard work in school just so you can achieve a small high."

"You're no fun," he teased again, popping the two tablets in his mouth, followed by a glass of ice water.

"Two ibuprofen tablets is all that you get for now Tony. However, you will have to find a way to dress that wound. If you don't want to cover it, I suggest putting some of that antiseptic on it twice a day at least." Autumn left his side, putting back the first aid kit to its original place. Tony took this moment to sigh quietly and turn back to the Iron Man suit, muttering something under his breath. He didn't expect this out of his house guest. In fact, he didn't know what to expect from her anymore. Pepper did mention at one point last week that her friend was predictable to be unpredictable. What did that fully mean? He wasn't sure, but he had the initial thought that he had just experienced this trait in her.

"So, about that dinner . . ." he said to her as she was about to leave his workshop.

"What about it?" he heard her ask.

"Where would you like to eat?" he inquired, grabbing a pair of wire clippers from his toolbox.

Autumn was silent for a moment, contemplating his question. he heard the slight tapping of her fingernails on the glass door that lead to the upstairs living room. "Know any good Italian places?" she asked finally.

Tony smiled to himself. If Tony Stark didn't know anything else in this world, he certainly knew of a few good places to eat, especially Italian food. "Italian it is,"

* * *

"Autumn, are you ready?"

"Almost!" I yelled back to Tony, who was waiting downstairs. My fingers fidgeted with the earring that I was trying to pierce through. "Shit," I whispered as I missed again. I was shaking; shaking with excitement and apprehension. It was not because of the fact that I was going on a date with Tony Stark. No, that definitely wasn't it, although I had to admit even to myself that I had never believed the opportunity could happen. It was just that I had never expected to go on a date so soon, not since . . . _No, don't think about that. _I scolded myself, a sharp pain hitting my heart for a split second. This was different; I was different. No longer was I that naive person from 3 years ago. I was a new woman and I wasn't going to go down that path again. I finally got the earring in and secured it accordingly, sighing with triumph. Facing forward, I glanced at my reflection in the mirror.

My hair was put in a half ponytail, secured with a rhinestone barrette, with a few stray strands framing my face. I wore a teal, form-fitting dress that went to my knees and showed off my petite figure and womanly curves. The material was light and breathable but was smooth to the touch. It also had sleeves that went to my elbows, camouflaging the wounds I had received. To complete the look, I wore thin, silver hoop earrings, thin white and silver necklaces, a hoop-like belt across my hips and silver sandal high heels. I wore natural based make up: thin black eyeliner and mascara, nude blush, and pale pink lip gloss. All in all, I though it was an appropriate attire for a first date with Tony Stark. _Well, here goes nothing. _I thought to myself.

Leaving my room, I went downstairs to meet Tony. Halfway down the steps, I saw him adjusting his one of his many hi-tech security systems with his back to me. It wasn't until he turned towards me that I got that familiar tingling sensation course through my body again. I gazed at him, unable to speak for a few moments. Dressed in a navy blue suit jacket, white collared shirt with the first two buttons undone, navy blue dress pants and extremely expensive shoes, I finally realized how attractive Tony truly was. I t was no wonder why he was indeed the sexy playboy that everyone knew him to be. Wait, did I just think that of him? I blinked away my thought, trying to forget that I had thought of my host as sexy. The slight shiver that went down my spine, however, begged to differ on the thought.

I saw him gaze curiously at me, his dark eyes overlooking my outfit for tonight. Tony's lips curved into a smile, one that could and would make any sane woman melt. "You could break a few hearts with that dress." he commented.

"Oh, like you haven't broken any yourself." I remarked back, standing next to him. I could smell his expensive cologne, a spicy and enticing mixture that almost made me want to fall into his arms and just drown in his scent.

He extended his elbow towards me, still smiling. "Shall we?" I responded with a small laugh as I slipped my arm through his. "JARVIS, lock down for the night. We'll be back later."

**AS YOU WISH SIR. HAVE A PLEASANT EVENING.** JARVIS responded, as the lights in the house dimmed. We went outside and Tony clicked a button on his key chain, turning on one of his red muscle cars.

"Is that your favorite toy?" I teased, while climbing into the passenger seat.

He got in after I did, chuckling. "One of them. And you might want to hang on tight." He shifted gears and sped away from his house, heading into the bright city lights of Malibu.

* * *

I had just told Tony that I had forgotten my phone, finally realizing that I didn't have it with me. To put it bluntly, I was freaking out. "You don't understand! All of my research, my files, my charts, everything about my project was on that phone!"

"Autumn, it's okay. I'll get you a new phone, the same exact one if you want."

"That's not the point. My pictures, files . . . all of them are gone." I cried.

"You must have everything, at least project wise, on a separate hard drive."

"Well yeah, but . . ."

"Then you have nothing to worry about Autumn. Your project, whatever it was specifically, is not all gone. As for everything else, you'll get new photos and such. You'll be fine." he said reassuringly. The calmness in his voice steadied me as his words sunk in. I nodded, knowing he was right. We pulled up to the restaurant and it looked fairly busy. Busy, I noted, with paparazzi. Why they were there, I had no idea. Maybe they were following someone around, which wasn't completely far fetched given that we were not too far away from Los Angeles. However, I wasn't used to all of this, being raised in Phoenix. I figured that what happened at the convention would cause lots of reporters to have a field day, being abuzz with updates on details regarding casualties, relocation, and even rumors of important documents that were reported missing. Whatever they were doing at the restaurant was beyond me. Tony stopped the car, tossing his keys to the valet as he opened the car door for me. Right when I stepped out of the car, that was when I heard someone in the group yell out Tony's name. "Shit," I heard Tony mutter under his breath.

Immediately, we were swamped with the paparazzi.

"Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark! What can you tell us about the recent attack on the convention?"

"Who do you think is responsible?"

"What were you doing at the convention? How is the Iron Man going to respond?"

"Do you believe it to be a government conspiracy?"

Microphones and cameras were shoved straight in his face, and a couple in mine as the group tried to get me to answer questions as well. I was in shock, taken aback by these people and their forward reactions. I felt a little bit dizzy as I looked at all of them, speechless and confused. "Keep your eyes straight ahead. Stick close to me." Tony whispered in my ear. I nodded and kept walking forward, my arm clutching onto his instinctively. Bright flashes went off as we headed to the entrance. I noticed how calm Tony looked, just flashing a smile or two in the direction of the press but not one did he utter a single word to them. After what felt like a long time, we were past the mob and into the restaurant. I was finally able to take a breath, relieved. "Wasn't that fun?" he asked me sarcastically.

I looked at him, failing to hide the smile on my face. "I don't know how you deal with it." I said laughing.

"I never get used to it, if that's what you mean." We walked up to to the host and the young gentleman escorted us to our table. On the way there, I took in the surroundings. This place was extremely fancy, a little too fancy for my taste but it didn't seem so for Tony. Hell, he looked like he belonged here with his expensive suit and his rich man vibe. I was the one that felt a little out of place, and with a few glances at the other patrons, possibly a little too under-dressed. It didn't seem to bother Tony one bit; if I was not dressed right for the occasion, I was sure he would tell me. Regardless, he had promised me this was the best Italian restaurant he knew of in Southern California. "I figured that we would run into the press eventually but I didn't think that they would show up tonight. However, I guess that wasn't the case." he said as we took a seat in a booth that was tucked into the corner of the restaurant.

"I guess not," I responded as I sat across from him. The young host then proceeded to hand us our menus while briefly informing us of the specials for tonight. Tony politely thanked him and the young man left. I only had a few moments to open my menu and glance at its contents when an elderly, gray-haired gentleman of around 60 years of age approached us.

"Welcome, both of you. I am Giuseppe and I will be your waiter for tonight." he said to us, with a very thick Italian accent. "May I interest you in one of our fine wines as a refreshment? We have a splendid wine collection this evening." I smiled to myself behind the menu. I was on the verge of showing off to Tony due to the thick accent of our waiter. How would Tony take it? I didn't know, but I was really tempted to find out.

"We will have the Pinot Grigio. Can we have the full bottle please?" Tony asked, not once taking his eyes off the menu.

"Absolutely _signore_, we just received a fresh shipment of it this morning. It will be quite invigorating. Do you need more time to look at the menu?"

Right before I was about to answer, Tony interjected for me, "Not at all, I believe we are ready. I think I will take the Tuscan Steak Florentine." He smiled at me with a mischievous look in his eye. He was obviously trying to show off his culinary tastes, possibly as part of the rebuttal from earlier this morning.

"_Eccellente, signore. _That is a wonderful choice indeed. A personal favorite of mine." Giuseppe said cheerfully, writing down Tony's order on his booklet before turning to me. "And for you _signora_? Have you decided what you wish to have?"

I glanced again at my menu, skimming over the specials and the antipasto. It was then I saw an item that I recognized, of course, most often in various forms. I grinned widely. If Tony wanted to show off his expensive, culinary taste, maybe I could just amp up the tempo just a little bit more.

"_Vorrei che la Pescitore Linguine, senza i fi occhi pepe_." I answered in fluent Italian without missing a beat. The look that Giuseppe gave me showed me that he was greatly impressed, a genuine smile appearing on his face.

"_C'e qualcos'altro che vorresti?_" he asked me.

"_No grazie signore_." I smiled sweetly as I handed my menu to the waiter, who then scurried off to get the wine that Tony had ordered. Tony looked at me with his eyebrow raised. "What?" I asked.

"If you wanted to impress me, you didn't need to do all of that." he said, interlocking his fingers on the table while tilting his head at me.

I gaped at him, knowing full well that he was teasing me but I wanted to pretend that I was innocent. "Impress you? You think I did that to impress you?"

He nodded, a smirk curling on his lips. "Why else would you speak Italian in front of me, at an Italian restaurant nonetheless?"

I eyed him closely though the dim lighting in the restaurant, a sly grin appearing on my face. "Maybe like you, who is showing off their expensive, culinary taste, I wanted to show off as well."

"Oh, like how you did earlier today?" Tony inquired, looking directly into my eyes. His facial expression was could be considered calculating yet flirty all at once. I was not going to give him the pleasure of knowing. At least, not yet anyway.

"_Non so cosa si sta parlando signor Stark._" I responded wittingly.

"_Penso che tu sappia benissimo di cosa sto parlando._" he countered, grabbing the bottle of wine that had finally arrived at our table. He opened the bottle and poured some of the wine into my glass, a gesture, I noticed, that was certainly well practiced. "How is it that you were able to contain yourself back there, in a firefight that could have cost you your life?"

I smoothed the napkin that was in my lap absently. I knew he was going to ask this question eventually. I had hoped he would wait until later to ask, but seeing as how he was greatly intrigued, I wasn't going to ignore him. I took a sip of the wine, taking in its unique flavor. "I guess you could say that I was indirectly trained."

Tony swirled the glass in his hand slightly before taking a sip as well. "Indirectly?"

"I have never been in combat, mind you, but I have had family and friends that were well trained with rifles and understanding of what it means to hold your own ground." I said to him calmly.

Tony made a soft "hmmm" noise as he thought about what I just said, nodding his head slightly. Leaning back into the booth, he crossed his arms nonchalantly. "I am guessing your father or your grandfather taught you."

I chuckled at him. "My Granddaddy only taught me how to stand my ground. I was just as stubborn as he was so there wasn't much of a 'lecture' so to speak regarding that. It was my mother and my grandmother that taught me how to shoot." I saw his head perk up, eyebrow arching once again. His facial expression was one of disbelief, as if it was impossible that I was taught to use a gun by the strongest women I knew. He leaned forward again, duly interested now. "When you come from the neck of the woods, ladies are not just meant to be pretty and girly. I was not going to be that stereotypical and my mother nor my grandmother wanted me to be so either. So they taught me to shoot a gun. I practiced every weekend and at least twice during the weekdays until my aim improved. I moved out to Arizona shortly thereafter and met some friends who were into things such as airsoft and paintball. I learned a lot from them. One of them is currently in the Marines and he taught me how important it is to remain calm when disaster strikes." I took another sip of wine as Tony sunk in all of the details. I wasn't sure what he would think about it. After all, probably to him it was the most ludicrous of explanations he could have hoped to hear. However, it was all the truth. If he didn't accept that, then what did it all matter anyway?

"So, no combat training whatsoever?" he asked finally.

I shook my head. "No,"

"But you have had gun safety training?"

"Yes,"

"Still does not help me figure out exactly how you knew what to do when those bastards were coming your way, firing in your direction." Tony sat up straight as our food finally arrived. Giuseppe graciously placed my bowl before me to which I gave him a charming thank you. I took a bite of the linguine pasta that had fresh scallops, mussels, tomatoes, chopped garlic, basil, and grated Romano cheese lightly tossed in a marinara sauce that was flavored with an array of Sicilian spices. I had to admit to myself that this was indeed the best Italian food I had ever had in years. _Well, he does get points for his culinary taste. _I thought to myself with a grin. I saw Tony take a bite of his Steak Florentine, the aroma wafting in my direction. The foodie in me nearly drooled, wanting a taste of what he had ordered. He swallowed and continued speaking, "Normally a person like you would not react that way under such trauma."

I shook my head again. "No, they wouldn't; but I am not like most normal people. Who is to say what normal even is? I am myself and there is only one of me. I am not going to change just because someone does not approve of my actions."

"I don't want you to change." he said. "In fact, I think you are quite fascinating, really."

I blushed upon hearing his words. It was one thing to assume that Tony Stark thought of me as fascinating (not that I ever thought about it extensively), and it was another to actually hear him say it to me. To me, it almost didn't seem believable. This man was certainly not the kind of man that settled with one woman. I was not blind to it, but I doubted that he actually found a woman fascinating. "Am I really?" I asked.

"Yes; I haven't met any other woman like you before. Pepper has told me little bits about you but actually getting to know you is quite nice." I saw Tony chew on his meal again, and for a moment, I thought I saw a hint of red appear on his cheeks. I took in another bite as I pondered his words. Maybe Gin was right, he really did take an interest in me. It puzzled me as to why I had originally thought that he was just teasing me and only leaving it at that and nothing else. After all, I had every reason to suspect that I surely wasn't the one to spark his interest, given his social and not-so-personal reputation. Then again, who was to know when it came to Tony Stark?

* * *

"I want to thank you for dinner tonight, Tony. I had a wonderful time." I said to him as we walked out of the restaurant. The mob of reporters had left and there was only the mingling of civilians walking along the pavement, some heading into the restaurant, some not. Outside it felt a little sticky, as if the humidity had increased. The sky was clear and the moon was full, the breeze of the wind blowing against my hair.

"You don't need to thank me," Tony said as he stood next to me, his hand resting on my waist as we waited for the valet to bring back his car. "I wasn't thinking clearly remember?"

I laughed lightly at his words. "You may not have been thinking clearly, but it still wasn't a bad idea. I haven't had food that tasted just as great as that in a long time." I felt his thumb gently rub my side, causing that familiar tingle of excitement race through me. "However, it was a little fun showing off in front of you."

He laughed at this, his tenor-like chuckle resonating softly between us. "I could tell. Where did you learn to speak Italian?"

"My father's side of the family. We're very much Italian. My sister and I grew up learning both Italian and English. I find it a very beautiful dialect to speak." I said, looking at him with a wide grin. The wind blew again, causing my hair to get in my face. I was about to brush it away when suddenly Tony turned me towards him and gently pushed back the strands of hair behind my ear. I blushed again, knowing that I couldn't hide it. "You didn't have to do that. My hair is always in the way." I joked.

"I know I didn't, but I wanted to." His other hand cupped my face gently, brushing the apple of my cheek that was more than likely stained that pinkish-red. The hand at my waist still rested there, holding firm. "You're very beautiful, do you know that?" he asked softly, staring deeply into my dark brown irises. I averted my eyes while raising my hand to touch his that was resting on my cheek, not saying anything. _Damn it Autumn! He said it! He flippin' said it! Respond! _

"Thank you," I said back, still not looking in his eyes._ What the hell? THANK YOU? What the hell Autumn, you don't say _'thank you'! I scolded myself. I couldn't believe that I did something so naive . . . so childish. Saying thank you after receiving a compliment? To Tony Stark? How old was I? Nineteen all over again? It wasn't that I was in no way flattered by his words, for I obviously was, but I never really thought that he would be like this. And to me of all people! Yet, as much as I wanted to pretend that this was just something that would fly right by me, I realized what I was doing. His hand on my cheek instantly warmed me, causing the blush to intensify. A chill of awareness bristled across the back of my neck and down my spine. My abdomen made strange movements as it twisted and turned at the feel of his hand rubbing my waist. None of that concerned me until I realized he was getting closer to me slowly. My heart skipped beat after beat, anticipating what he was going to do next. I suddenly had the unknown urge to just fall into his arms and just embrace him with my head resting against his chest.

"Autumn," he spoke softly, turning my chin towards him. His eyes met mine, freezing me in place as his chocolate eyes searched deep into mine. I couldn't look away. I had never seen eyes that were so captivating nor provocative. I felt his hand at my waist pull me closer to him so that we were only and hairsbreadth away from touching each other. I could just barely see the faint outline and glow of the arc reactor in his chest glowing through his button up shirt. Tony's hand moved from my cheek to the back of my neck and he leaned forward.


End file.
